Words are easy, like the wind. Faithful friends are hard to find. ~ William Shakespeare

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Return to Joyful Blogging

I began blogging back in January of 2008. It was back when
my little son had miraculously pulled through health problems at birth and
everything about a “normal” life as a mom felt rosy. I was happy to be alive
and healthy. And I was happy my children were alive and healthy. Nothing could
be sweeter than a mundane schedule that did not involve a hospital.

I was also getting back to writing after weeks and weeks of
bed rest. It felt good. It felt like a brave new world where words were perfect
without the scrutiny of trying to get published. Just the simple action of
writing a novel and a blog with doe-eyed naïveté was exciting. I felt like I
was true to myself and to my friends that read my blog.

Now life has become really busy and my posts fewer and
fewer. I stress about my online absences but they can’t be helped. I stress
that each post has to be something dramatic—a masterpiece worthy of my reader’s
time. Somehow the pressure has made me feel not much like me anymore. The self-imposed
strain has sucked dry the joy I used to have in blogging. Months have gone by
and this will be my first post since (gasp!) February. I miss it. I miss you,
my friends. And fortunately Wednesday nights have opened up so I can fill that
missing. My posts will only be once a week—probably very short—but I am
determined not to pressure myself anymore about the quality or quantity of the
content here. Now that the joy is back, I set some ground rules for myself so I
don’t lose it again.

The
number of followers does not matter. I’m sorry if it’s a pain that I
deleted my follower box, but I can’t look at it anymore. I don’t want the
number to matter to me. I still, however, want to visit your websites and
follow you. Please leave me a comment and I’ll be sure to drop by your
cyber house. Also, there is no pressure to subscribe, but I put it there
in case anyone really feels the need.

I have
many interests and I’m hoping to post about all of them here, not just
writing. (I can only blog about the writing part of my life so long before
I run out of unique things to say….)

I have
to meet my writing quota first. For writers, writing a book should always
take precedence over writing a blog post. At least it has to for me
because I am a slow writer.

Be me.
All posts will be honest and authentic. What you see is what you get. For
good or ill….

Basically it just feels sooooooo good to be back. I’m happy
to be able to reach out again. Because that is what true blogging feels like to
me—opening up my heart and hugging the universe. I love my blogging friends. I
look forward to making new friends. Blogging has brought me many wonderful
friends already and I am ecstatic to reconnect.

To celebrate a return to blogging, I’m giving away books.
SIGNED, new books!

All you have to do is leave me a note telling me what you
have been up to the last 7 months I’ve been absent and which book you would
prefer.

(And in case you wondered what I have been doing the last few months: I took a Master Gardener
certification class, revised the novel that has been turning my hair grey(er), did
a bit of volunteer work, and landscaped my yard. So all good, happy
stuff! Yay!)

I love this! I'm excited to see you posting again :) My favorite part was when you said that blogging feels like "opening up my heart and hugging the universe." And the rules you set up for yourself sound great! Keep the posts coming :)

I totally agree that blogging has to come after writing. I still have another week before school is back, but I'm definitely not going to lose sight of the writing. I've had a blast this summer. Finished one story which is now marinating and am 50k into a new one. :)

Thanks, Caroline! Your launch has been awesome from what I have seen. I've been meaning to post my review of your book--I was so excited to find it at our library! :0) Our youth services librarians have great taste and ordered it before I even asked them to. :o) Have you down for Adam's book! <3

Lovely Jackee!! Welcome back!! And you sound so rejuvenated and raring to go!! It's amazing how incredibly involved blogging and social networking can be!!! You really have to step back, take a breather and treat it like it truly is - not just a fun creative output - but one of many that does not involve being online - it really is no big deal!!

Hi, Jackee! Good to have you back. I am finding Facebook works better for me than the blog these days, but I don't want to give up blogging for good. I like the guidelines you set for yourself. That's very important. Over the last seven months, I've been up to releasing my first novel and doing all the marketing and stuff there, revising my second novel, putting out three novella e-books and working hard on my third novel! I don't really have a preference on the books. =)

I love reading your blog posts, but I also think it's healthy to disconnect and just LIVE sometimes. I'm hoping to get back to blogging once or twice a week once the kids are in school. It's too hard when they're home; they see me on the computer and all want to use it for their own stuff.

I've been meaning to read FAT CAT for years. I love funny books.

As for this year, I finished another year of teaching, and I've been revising the novel I wrote last year. I also wrote a couple of picture book manuscripts (which I haven't submitted) and some poetry (which I have). Robyn is sitting next to me, tickling my feet. Aiee!

LOL! Loved the last bit about Robyn tickling. Made my husband want to know what was so funny. :o) Congrats on the writing! You are getting to be prolific, girl. Have you down for Fat Cat. I'm glad my kids are small enough they don't ask for my computer. That would be just one more set back! Have a great school year! (And come see me again.)

Thank you, Jai! I have missed you too!!! I'm so happy to be back and thanks for understanding. I need to give myself the permission you seem to realize--everyone needs a break. :o) Good luck catching up!